It is described in-game as follows: "This is a very powerful hostile monster, approach with caution! Killing this monster will yield great monetary and magical rewards to the team, but it should not be confronted alone".

Killing the Baron gives the Hand of Baron buff to all living champions on the team, which lasts 3 minutes total (Runic Affinity doesn't work on this buff). This buff gives massively increased attack damage and ability power as well as an aura that promotes nearby minions and a recall time decrease. When Nashor is killed, each player on the team is also granted the following:

Contents

Lore

The many neutral monsters on the Fields of Justice are constructs inspired by real creatures from Runeterra. The Baron Nashor you see on the map is actually an incomplete facsimile of the true Baron Nashor, who is now the subject of myth and legend. The story goes that Baron Nashor was a ferocious worm that ruled the Serpentine River, which flows through Summoner’s Rift. He was such a fearsome and powerful beast that even the armies of Demacia and Noxus steered clear of the river, unwilling to chance an encounter with the Baron.

When Summoner’s Rift was constructed, the Baron vanished, leaving no conclusive evidence as to where he went or why he left in the first place. Obviously the rumor-mill has churned out many explanations, but all we know for sure is that the Senior Arcane Architect for the Summoner’s Rift arena was said to have crafted the version you see today from no more than a molted scale and interviews with those who had seen the beast and lived.

Abilities

After surveying the terrain close to Baron Nashor, That same architect has revealed Baron Nashor's true strength, and has updated the facsimile.The new Baron Nashor has a different set of abilities. The following table shows a known set of abilities that Baron performs. While they are not revealed in-game on a death screen, their debuffs and animations are visible and distinctive.

Presence of the Baron: When Baron Nashor spawns, he will knock back all units, wards and targetable traps to the edge of his pit. So long as he lives, he will continue to knock back wards and targetable traps.

Crowd Control Immunity: Baron Nashor is immune to all forms of crowd control except for stasis and his stats cannot be reduced.

Acid Shot: Baron Nashor spits acid in a straight line, dealing ? (+20% AD) magic damage to all enemies it hits and burning for an additional ? (+20% AD) damage over some seconds.

Acid Pool: Baron Nashor spits out 3 pools of acid in a cone in front of him, dealing ? (+10% AD) magic damage to all enemies hit and creating a slowing field.

Tentacle Knockup: After a brief delay, Baron Nashor knocks up all enemies at the target location. Tremors will indicate the targeted location.

Gameplay

Baron applies a deadly debuff that reduces target's armor and magic resist. This can potentially reduce a carry champion's magic resist to 0 or less, making them highly vulnerable to magic damage. In addition, the armor reduction is deadly in a prolonged fight in the pit.

Baron Nashor is often a key objective in competitive games because of its massive gold bonus (+300g/player) and global buff.

Baron Nashor is immune to all forms of Crowd Control except for stasis . Killing him should not be attempted until mid or late game.

Due to its power you should not attempt to solo it, this feat is usually not possible unless you have a full item build with a lot of survivability.

Killing Baron with a team is fairly simple. Baron primarily attacks the target closest to him so you can distribute damage by positioning characters closer or farther away from him.

The enemy team likely will have a ward placed to see when yours initiates on Baron. If you do not destroy these wards with the use of a Vision Ward or Sweeping Lens, they may be able to assault your team while you are weakened by Baron and subsequently steal the Hand of Baron buff/kill several players, putting you at a disadvantage.

Baron Nashor's Hand of Baron buff is given to the team that deals the killing blow on Baron. This mechanic means that even if one team is incapable of directly fighting the enemy team, a player can possibly swoop in and steal the Baron with a well timed Smite, or Consume. This can be made extremely difficult if the enemy team has a Kalista, as her Rend can out-damage both Smite and Consume if she has enough stacks. This is almost definitely a suicide mission and is an extremely high risk maneuver. However, successfully stealing Baron can turn the tide of a game dramatically. Being able to steal or prevent the stealing of Baron (or other key monsters) is also a strong argument for junglers to always have Smite.

In the same vein, Champions possessing abilities with a considerable range can attempt to do the same with less risk by dealing the killing blow from a distance. However, this is difficult to attempt because perfect timing and clear vision of the battle are required to pull it off. Some Champions that can do this are: Draven, Ezreal, Gragas, Janna, Jayce, Jinx, Kog'Maw, Lux, Nidalee, Varus, Xerath, and Ziggs.

When Baron dies, the Hand of Baron buff is only granted to those team members who are currently alive. Dead team members will not respawn with the buff.

His name is a tribute to Roshan, (his name being an anagram of Roshan) a monster filling a similar role in Defense of the Ancients.

A box labeled "Baron Acid" can be seen in the preview video for the launch of the League of Legends' Mac Version.

CEO and Co-Founder, Brandon 'Ryze' Beck has stated on Twitter that they are currently planning to give Baron Nashor a visual upgrade, with his latest concept revealed in the second League of Legends cinematic, A Twist of Fate.[2] This was subsequently implemented.

In the death recap screen, Voracious Corrosion is labeled as "WormAttack" and Wrath of the Ancients "wrathdamage".

In the Q&A of Rek'Sai on LAN server stated that the Baron Nashor is from the Void.[3]

The in game display states that Baron had 300 movement speed, however, he never moves so he essentially has 0 movement speed